Abstract:As farmers in the 21st century struggle with increasing energy costs and decreasing farm
incomes, untapped business opportunities in renewable energy hold the promise of addressing both of these problems, while also offering numerous other benefits such as rural economic development, national energy security and improved environmental conditions. American farmers have captured some renewable energy opportunities available to them, notably those associated with ethanol production, but have not yet developed most renewable technologies to their full potential. German farmers, on the other hand, have used renewables to their advantage and have established a much more robust agriculture-renewables connection than their American counterparts.